A mound of random stuff labeled 'Life' sits in the middle of the floor. Suddenly a figure bursts forth from the mountain, taking in gulps of air as though they were the most precious thing in the world.

Gasp! I made it! I finally updated! I am so sorry for the wait everyone. Between school and leadership it has been very difficult for me to write. I will try my very hardest to update quicker in the future. For now, enjoy this long-awaited (hopefully) update of Boundaries!

Raven was in a bind. He could feel his consciousness slipping away as another entity threatened to take control, and he knew what this other being was.

It was the arm; this powerful left arm of his. It was the same arm that gave him the power to slaughter his enemies.

However, there were some consequences to such power. During his first mission after the arm had attained its current form, he had been partnered with a squad of ten men and women tasked with participating in a skirmish on the northern borders of Velder. They had successfully killed all the elves in that battle, but Raven was the only survivor from his squad. But it was not because the elves killed them.

He killed them.

In the midst of battle, the demonic appendage took over his mental faculties when he lost himself to the bloodlust. It was a slaughter. He tore through the elven ranks, wreathed in raging flames and cackling as he bathed in their blood and flesh. Then, once the elves were destroyed, he then turned on his comrades with nothing but a gleeful smile plastered on his face as he ripped them to pieces, limb from limb.

By the time Raven's mind became his own again, he realized that he had been subdued by three squads of elite Red Knights and was then brought before Supreme Commander Alex, his best friend, for punishment. But Alex did not punish him; he merely directed Raven to pay a visit to Altera for treatment.

There he met the Queen of the Nasods, Eve, whom he immediately took a severe disliking to. He had his personal reasons for his spite towards the tiny nasod, but she did not seem to care one way or another. She and her mechanized assistants examined his arm extensively and Raven could still remember Eve's diagnostic while he lay on an operating table.

This arm was merely meant to be a replacement for the limb you had lost two years ago, yet now it has, how shall I say, "evolved." It is now not only a limb, but a creature in and of itself. It even possesses a dominating influence, it seems. I am not sure how this mere limb has become so advanced, but at this point there is little we can do to lessen its authority over your mind. She had told him that as if she could not be bothered with the situation, though he could still recall seeing something akin to concern in her eyes.

If it has control over me, why can't we just remove it? Give me a new arm and this should go away, right? Raven had put forward his own solution, but…

I am afraid that removing the arm will be a fatal procedure. It seems that the appendage has actually connected itself to not only your heart and major organs, but your brain as well. It has become fully integrated into your body not as a limb, but as a hub to the functions of your body's operations. So I will summarize: if we remove the arm, you will die. It will be like tearing out all of your organs simultaneously. It was like she was telling someone they had cancer and only had weeks to live. Raven was baffled and…angry. The moment he felt that anger, the arm suddenly began to twitch under the restraints the Code Empress and her servants placed on it. He felt his temples start to pulse and his vision became clouded in a scarlet hue.

Noticing the sudden predicament, Eve made a sweeping motion with her delicate hand and her servants, Oberon and Ophelia, leaped forward to suppress the arm. They grabbed the twitching appendage and put their whole weight on it, but the wrist continued to swivel around and the fingers seemed to snap like the jaws of a wild animal, searching for something to take in its grasp and tear apart.

As Raven grunted in pain and frustration, Eve picked up a syringe that was lying on the nearby table and inserted it into the IV that was in the struggling warrior's right arm. Moments later, Raven's rage dissolved into the recesses of his mind, the red faded from his vision and the arm ceased its erratic movement. The black-haired male's chest rose and fell at a quick pace and his entire body was covered in sweat.

What… What the hell… Raven was at a loss for words. He knew that he had quite the murderous streak ever since that day he got the arm, but nothing like this. This was… something else entirely. During that little episode he felt the urge to not just kill, but to destroy everything in sight. What in El Lady's name was this arm!?

The nasod empress, satisfied that the situation was now under control, nodded to her caretakers and they immediately relieved Raven's arm of their weight. She then looked to Raven with furrowed brows, her usually emotionless eyes emitting something akin to worry.

The arm seems to be capable of drawing on something inside you in order to ascend itself into a higher state of power. We believe it has something to do with your emotions. The appendage has somehow connected itself to the limbic system in your brain, which controls your emotions. I am afraid that this is the best conclusion I can currently come to with the observations I have made. The small nasod spoke to the man on the table as though she were talking to a child. At this point, I think it is too late to attempt to lessen its hold on your mind. However, we can do something else…

At that, Eve snapped her small fingers and Oberon, who promptly went to attention at the sound, darted to the wall, placing its steel hand on an unassuming panel. The section of the wall opened up and a rack holding several vials of multicolored liquid slid out. Oberon removed this rack and brought it to his queen who picked out one of the vials without even looking and held it in front of the black-haired man.

This is a relaxation agent that we, the nasods, have developed. We use this to suppress large animals in order to study them safely. However, if we were to dilute this agent and have you ingest it in a solid form, it should help you stay in an emotionally stable state. The arm's will grows when you are in a less stable state. Disbelief, sadness, rage – all of these types of emotions are supposedly among the most powerful in humans. I think that the emotion that the arm is harnessing is likely… rage. This made sense to Raven, yet at the same time he did not want it to make sense.

But she did have a point. When he lost himself on the battlefield, he remembered feeling absolutely furious. Furious at how the elves dared to show themselves after what they had done to him. After they took away everything that he had held dear. He wanted nothing more than to tear them apart.

And the arm obliged. It must have granted him the power he craved so that he may inflict the same pain on the elves as they had to him. But at what cost did he have to pay for such power? His mind? His being?

We will begin the process of manufacturing the pills immediately. Until then, I request that you remain under watch and temporary confinement. When we have completed the medication, you will be released once we can confirm its effectiveness. Eve really needed to work on her bedside manner. Raven was already pretty peeved at her nonchalant attitude towards his condition, and the fact that she was talking to him like he was stupid was not helping anything. If not for the chemical now coursing through his veins, he would have definitely broken free of his restraints and ripped the nasod queen in half.

But he had another question in mind that he needed to ask.

And what if the pills do not work? What then? He posed his inquiry to the empress, who stood silent for only a moment before looking into his eyes with her emotionless orbs.

Then we would have to either keep you under constant arrest or execute you before you lose yourself to the limb again. I am afraid those are the only options left to us. Eve spoke in a tone that would not be out of place in an interview. That was not what Raven wanted to hear. Was there not any other way?

Raven unfortunately did not have much of a choice in the matter, as he was confined to a cell shortly after this exchange with the nasod queen. But, the solitude the cell gave him allowed him time to think. As he sat there, he thought back on what would have caused him to go out of control like he did.

His first thought was that he hated the elves. This was entirely true, but the root of the hate lay somewhere deeper, so he dug further into his mind to find it.

And he did. They took something from him that could never be replaced. The elves had destroyed the peaceful life he hadonce known. It was a memory he wished dearly that he could forget, but with the ever-looming threat of losing himself to the arm, he had to embrace those memories, as they were what kept Raven as himself.

Never once while he sat in that cell for the next two days did he lose himself to rage. He meditated and found peace within himself and used this method to contend with the arm that was vying for control of his body. Whenever he would feel its influence growing, he would think back on the moments in his past that made him happy. He could not think about how it was lost, but he had to remember that they did happen and that such recollections needed to be treasured. They were as much a part of him as the demonic appendage that he now had.

So when Eve released him from his cell to test the effectiveness of the completed medication, she was astonished, or at least the closest she could get to astonished.

I do not know how you have been able to keep control of that arm without external stimuli. Could you please explain to me how you were able to avoid a psychotic episode for so long? Raven had merely scoffed and gave her a lazy answer.

You would not understand, you don't have emotions. Perhaps if you had felt some form of joy in your life you might begin to understand. Now let's get this over with. For the first time, Raven thought he saw a hint of sadness in the empress' eyes when he said those words, but when she spoke it appeared to be quite the contrary.

I suppose so. Let us commence the test. Maybe there will be no need to imprison or kill you at this point. I do not know why, but that makes me, how does one say...? Happy. Despite the comforting words that floated from her tiny mouth, her expression remained as placid as ever.

The test was, needless to say, a success and Raven was allowed to leave and continue accepting missions from the Allied Human Forces. He was now armed with two weapons to combat the arm: the medication that Eve and her assistants had prepared for him, which she also shared the process of its creation with the medical staff based in Ruben and Velder, and the meditations that he came up with in his temporary isolation.

The medication was something that he had to take regularly in order to remain in a consistently stable emotional state. But he could resort to his meditations if he had the time and it was absolutely necessary.

Now was one of those moments. One of the unlikely scenarios that Raven was without his medication, yet almost to the brink of losing his sanity. There was just one problem.

His meditations were not very effective when he was already on the edge of losing his mind to the arm. They were a preventative technique. The demonic appendage could exert its influence and interrupt his attempts to calm himself if he tried to meditate in this state. If he was going to wrest control of his mind away from this arm without the use of his medication, he needed to perform the meditations before his mind was at risk.

He knew that to attempt to calm himself now was nearly a moot point. But he had no other choice. It was either he tries to ease his mind and push beck the arm or fall to its madness. And in the Bethma wilderness, losing yourself to insanity was not the best event that could occur.

But he had to try. So he took several deep breaths and his mind dove into the flood of memories that lay within. It was tumultuous storm of chaos and every thought was plagued with the rage that the arm fed on. He needed to find a memory, a happy memory.

There was a particular memory he was searching for, one where he knew happiness and joy. But every time he tried to dredge up those memories the same recollection would force its way to the surface.

The image of a woman bleeding in his arms as the light faded from her eyes. It was always the same.

I don't want to die… Raven… I don't want to die…

He could feel himself falling further and further into rage each time it played out. Over and over again, he tried to find the silver lining, but this nightmare continued to plague him.

Was this it? Was this the moment he would lose to this stupid arm? Was this moment where he would become nothing more than a puppet to its will?

Desperate, he began to look here and there around the canyon for anything that he could use to help him remember a more pleasant memory. But it was futile; there was nothing in the canyon that would help him.

That is until his eyes fell on the elf that he planned to leave for dead. Or rather her face, the one that would make his heart skip a beat. The same face that he hated because of how it was similar it was to her.

How similar…

Similar…

Raven now found his mind wandering to a different memory. He was standing in his house, the kitchen to be more accurate. The image started out blurry, but it quickly began to come into focus. First were the small table and two plain wooden chairs, and then the white ceramic counter.

Then finally, a woman standing in front of the sink came into focus. She was facing away from Raven, but that did not stop the sunlight filtered through the window from setting her long, blonde hair aglow.

Raven felt… at peace here, just watching this woman toil away at the dishes. The light splashes of water and the clinking of tableware was like a melody, calming and pleasing to the ear.

Then the woman stopped, before spinning around to face Raven.

How long have you been standing there, silly? Give me a hand. Her smile seemed to radiate with light and her round, green eyes shone like emeralds.

Raven did not hear what he said back to her in response, but he did see a white light expand from behind the woman. This light surged forward, engulfing the memory and pushing back the raging thoughts.

His breathing slowed and the crimson hue in his vision receded begrudgingly. In a matter of moments, the demonic arm ceased its twitching, admitting defeat.

Raven was now surprised. Never before had he been able to beat back the arm's influence when it was so strong without the aid of his medication. His eyes were now fixed on the unconscious elf.

Was it because of her? Did she save him, albeit unintentionally?

"That is ridiculous…" He grinded his teeth at the thought; she was an elf, and he hated the elves. So why did he feel that this creature had just assisted him? Just because she shared that face with her?

"That is absolutely stupid." He spat at the ground in disgust. "I should just kill her and be done with it…" He tailed off when he felt something warm running down his face. He brought his human hand to his cheek and touched the sensation. Bringing his hand in front of his eyes he saw what that sensation was.

Tears…

"Why am I…" Raven did not know what to think anymore. Every time he looked on this elf, he felt a burning desire to tear her in half, but at the same time some part of him was happy that she was here.

He went back and forth in his mind trying to sort out his thoughts and eventually came to a conclusion.

"You owe me, Long-Ear…" He whispered as he walked to her unconscious form and carefully lifted her off the ground. Now with the elf in his arms, he walked back to his blade and picked it up, strapping it to his back before leaving the stream and venturing into the brush.

Rena watched the man she had called Demon closely. He seemed to be deep in thought about something. She speculated that it was probably a recollection of how he survived the fall from Altera. She began to wonder how he was able to survive such a fall.

That fall would have killed her and it should have killed her. Yet, here she was, alive and kicking, so to speak. She was not exactly in the best condition either, but you had to take what you can get. So if she was in this bad of shape, how much damage had this man sustained on his fall?

She could only guess at his capacity for combat right now. But judging from how that claw was just hanging on his side, she could venture a guess that he could not use it at the moment. And those red-stained bandages on his abdomen were not a pleasant sight, so that should severely limit him in a fight.

"You like what you see, Long-Ear?" The man apparently caught her scrutinizing him. "Too bad I am not interested in your kind. The ears are a bit of a turn-off."

When she gasped at his comment, her sensitive ears that he had just insulted picked up a snickering leaking from his mouth. She did not blush like some school girl. She merely bared her teeth at the man again, her voice dripping venom.

"I could never fall for a human, much less a demon that thinks himself a man. Keep your sick jokes to yourself." The man let out a low whistle at her response.

"Then the feeling's mutual. You elves think yourselves so high and mighty when you're nothing more than parasites that feed off our scraps of El." The black-haired male growled back at her.

That was the last straw.

The elves were supposed to be a peaceful race and were to conduct themselves as such. They had to allow the negative thoughts that corrupted the humans so violently to flow through them, like the wind through the trees. But Rena felt, in this moment, something snap.

In an instant, a sharp gust of wind lashed from her free hand and exploded on the moist rock next the man's face. He eyes went wide in surprise for a moment but he made no effort to escape from the sudden attack. He just stared at the panting elf who forced the words from her throat.

"You think… that we live off your El!? You humans are all the same! You still do not realize that is our El that you leech off of!" She was furious. The pride of her people, the elven El Tree was just insulted and she would not stand for that. To hell with staying calm!

She attempted to fire another wind spear at the man but fell limp when her magic reserves ran dry. And now of all times! The demon stared at her pathetic form for only another moment before speaking.

"If I were you, I would have aimed that better. That was probably your last chance to kill me and you blew it. I would not have hesitated were I you. I would have buried that piercing magic right here…" He jabbed his human thumb to his exposed neck. "But you elves are just that. Weak. So very weak. You couldn't even save your buddies back in Ruben Forest. I should have expected no more from a pathetic creature that just sat there as their companions died."

Rena felt the fury explode in her chest as she sprang up painfully and tried to reach for her bow. Unfortunately, her fingers only brushed the elegant weapon before excruciating pain erupted from her broken leg when she leaned on it the wrong way. She fell off the flat rock that served as her bed and landed on the floor of the cave in a pitiful heap, her bow now lying on the ground with her.

"Don't… you… ever…" Her breathing was erratic and her limbs shook with each painful motion. "I swear… on the graves of my friends that you murdered, I will kill you. I promise you… I will end you."

The man then broke into laughter, and the sound echoed through the cave.

"That's a good one. You? Kill me? You failed three times already, what makes you think that you can actually pull it off?" He chuckled at her after the fits of laughter lightened.

"Then let me give you some advice, Demon. You better kill me now, because when I recover, I am going to put an arrow through your neck." Rena seethed from her prone position as she pulled herself back up so she was hanging off the rock.

"I would love to see you try, Long-Ear." The man shrugged as he sent an evil smirk her way.

"I will do more than try. You will regret this…" Rena finally managed to hoist her broken body back onto the rock having also leaned her weapon back up against the stone. Her eyes shone with a fire that could only be described as a burning furnace of contempt. But the man did not even buckle under her gaze.

"Then you better get some rest, Long-Ear. You are not going to be killing me any time soon if you are not taking care of your body." He set his blade down at his side as he slid his back down on the cave wall, ending up in a sitting position, his hands draped over his bent knees.

"What are you doing?" Rena inquired, her voice filled with distrust. She could not defend herself from this man as she was. So every movement he made was a threat. He could be preparing an attack this very moment. He could be –

"I am going to sleep. I am very tired, I just had to carry your sorry ass all the way here from the river and patch you up. Now if you'll excuse me, I –"

"What?" The anger that Rena held inside dispersed for a brief moment when she was taken off-guard from his response.

He was just going to sleep? Right in front of the person who just threatened to put an arrow through his throat? That made no sense whatsoever!

"You're a soldier too right? Rest is very important I thought? Or are you elves trained to work yourselves to death without rest?" He chuckled as he rested his head on the cavern wall. "Not that I care if you do or not, but if you're going to push yourself into your own grave, you better dig it first. And away from me if possible, I don't want any wildlife digging up your corpse and decide to make me a snack while they are at it."

He sent another sadistic grin in her direction and Rena's anger resurfaced as she inhaled another gasp of air. This man… this human... was degrading her even in his sorry state. She never felt so angry in her entire long life.

But she could not deny that he had a point. She felt absolutely exhausted, especially after that rage induced spell she recklessly threw out earlier. She needed to rest. But she did not want to, she wanted to kill this demon and avenge her fallen brothers and sisters. She wanted to get revenge for Rylen, Bestra, Lysha, Radimir, Trion and Fey, her friends that he murdered!

But she could not do it. Not because of some underlying emotional or mental reason such as she hated killing or she loved the man deep down. She could not kill him simply because she could not physically take his life. If her leg, arm and ribs were mended, she would have killed this demon the moment she awoke from her slumber.

"Oh, and no funny business, you hear? I am very grouchy if I am disturbed, grouchy enough that I might… disembowel you…" The raven-haired male made one last threat before hanging is head on his chest and closing his golden eyes.

Rena continued to glare daggers at him until she heard the faint sounds of his steady breathing, indicating his fall into the world of sleep. Now was the perfect chance.

Now was the perfect chance to kill him. He was defenseless, and she had a good eight to ten meters distance between them. She could take her bow and prop it against her broken arm to steady it and use her good arm to prepare the arrow. And with him asleep, she had all the time in the world to set up the perfect shot and kill him in one fell swoop.

But…

It would not feel right if she killed him like this. And this was not because she felt indebted to him for not killing her when he had the chance.

It was because she wanted to watch the light fade from his eyes and watch his face as he realized he was about to die. She wanted to see the face that her friends had on their slackened expressions when she gathered their bodies to be taken home. The expression that showed the pain and fear they felt when their life's blood leaked from their bodies. The suffering that they must have felt in their final moments, she wanted this man to suffer while he was conscious.

She wanted him to die gasping for his last breath, not in peace as he slept.

But if she were to do that, she needed to rest up and wait for her body to heal. Fortunately, she did have some healing magic to help accelerate the mending of her broken body. The healing spirits of the earth would help her in that effort when called upon. But, there was one small issue.

She was a Grand Archer, and this caste of elite elven warriors were highly attuned to the magic of the wind, using only earth magic as a supplement to their abilities. Wind Sneakers, despite their name, were more in tune with the spirits of the earth, which were more focused on augmenting the body as opposed to the external nature of the wind spirits. This is what made the Grand Archers more suited for ranged combat, where they could cast their devastating magic without interruption, while the Wind Sneakers would charge enemy lines with the spirits of the earth protecting them and healing their wounds.

Rena was one of a handful of Grand Archers who had a small degree of control on the earth spirits, but in her current condition, she could not call on their aid to mend her bones. For now, she had to be content with mere sleep until she had the strength to summon those spirits.

So with reluctant determination, she lay down as comfortably as she could and allowed her eyelids to flutter shut. It did not take long for her exhausted body to surrender to sleep as the elf fell into slumber.

The blackness of Erendris' room was comforting to him. There was nothing for him to worry about in here. It was his element, the darkness. A place where he could meditate and allow the shadows the engulf everything.

The sounds of his approach, the glint of his blade, and the screaming in his heart; the darkness swallowed it all.

This was the essence of the Night Watchers. To become one with the blackness so that nothing stood between them and their objective. The mission was all that mattered.

Or that was how it was supposed to be.

The more a heart is bathed in darkness, the more it yearns for the light. The Night Watchers were trained to ignore that attraction, no matter what form it came in. That light could be in the form of a relative, a rival, a bitter enemy, a hobby.

Or love.

Yes, Erendris was in love. With the Grand Archer Rena.

It had happened years ago, when he was still under the tutelage of the previous leader of the Night Watchers, his father, Eras. The Trapping Ranger had just cleared the final trial to earning his Night Watcher cloak when he met her.

She was so radiant, with her glowing blonde hair and emerald eyes; she cut through the darkness that encased his heart with her brilliant smile. Many male rangers had their eyes on her, her beauty and decisiveness on the battlefield made her a prime object of affection.

But at the same time, there was something… unapproachable about her. She just seemed like the type of elf that was still searching for her mate. Or maybe she did not want one. It was something Erendris saw in her eyes and her smile. It just seemed to say you are not the one, I am sorry.

Despite that, Erendris kept her close to his heart, working in the shadows to watch her. To protect her, until that moment she would find her mate, even if it was not himself.

But now… Rena was missing.

Irha and Amelia described what they had seen on Altera. A man, dressed in black and hair as dark as the night sky with a white streak running through it, dueled with Rena. After Rena had launched Gungnir at the man, he had sent forth his own attack to counter. The result was nothing… Nothing remained of their dueling grounds, only a gaping hole that opened into the sky below.

Erendris could only imagine the terror of falling from the floating island or being annihilated by a force of power so strong that nothing escaped its grasp. But Rena was not confirmed dead yet.

But neither was the man. This was apparently the same man who slaughtered Rena's team in Ruben Forest. The demon who took his brother from the living world.

Now he had taken Rena from him. He had taken his light, leaving him in the darkness once more.

"I will find you, Demon… Even if I must hunt you down to the pits of hell, I will find you… And I will kill you… On my blade, Erendil, this I swear…" Once a Night Watcher identifies a target, you are told to pray that it is not you; and to pray for the soul of the one unfortunate enough to earn the assassin's wrath…

Rena was sleeping soundly, free from dreams and nightmares, when she felt… something.

In the world of sleep, everything external felt alien, but it only served to help rouse one from their slumber. But when Rena became aware of this feeling, she tried to place it.

What was it? It felt like a pair of hands groping around her body. Why would someone be touching her all over?

Then it hit her subconscious; that man! He was trying to take advantage of her while she slept! Well, she would show him how grouchy she could be if woken prematurely.

With that in mind, her eyes sprang open and her mouth split into a snarl, ready to give the demon a tongue lashing.

But what she saw was not human.

Its eyes bugged out the sides of its head and the grey orbs swiveled from her body to her face when they realized she was awake. Its oddly shaped snout flared and looked like it belonged on a snake. The creature's blue scales seemed to glow in the darkness of the cave that was only illuminated by the pale moonlight creeping in through the opening. And its hands were now gripping the elf's shoulders, as though it wanted to carry her away.

The elf and this creature stared at each other for what seemed to be eternity, before Rena let out a piercing scream that rang through the cave…

And there you have it. Chapter eleven of Boundaries! Feel the hate, let it permeate your very being. That was the feeling I was trying to emphasize in this chapter. Raven and Rena finally have a chance to talk like civilized people, right? Absolutely not, I say! They hate each other, they can't wait to dig their teeth into each other. But as it stands, neither of them could bring themselves to land the killing blow. Why is this? Could this be love? Hahaha, yeah right. They would rather die than fall in love with each other as they are now. And this is not the cliche, "I'd rather die," this is literally they would rather die. Of course, after they bury the other at their feet.

From this update onwards, I will no longer be responding to reviews in the text. I will respond to your reviews through PM should I have the time and feel like I should clarify something for you. A big thanks goes out to He-Jay who provided tons of great input on the update and for being the inspiration for this story. And I know Rena seems to getting the short end of the stick pretty often, but to Rena fans out there, it will not be for much longer. She will have her moment to shine soon enough. Thank you everyone who is taking time out of their day to read this update and thank you to my followers. Please Read and Review and this ride is just getting started! Until next time! (Which should be sooner than last time)